Page 53 of Critical Doubt

"Do what you have to."

"Thanks." She ended the call, reminded once again that she'd made a great choice when she'd decided to work for Flynn. She had plenty of autonomy and a boss who respected her enough not to question her decisions. He also understood personal commitment to family and friends. With that thought in mind, she decided to call Abby. With her other phone off, she needed to make sure that Abby wasn't trying to reach her.

"Hello?" Abby said, her voice choked up.

"It's me, Savannah."

"This isn't your number."

"I borrowed a phone. What's wrong?"

"You don't know? You haven't heard?"

Her stomach flipped over. "Heard what?"

"Chief Tanner just called me. They found Todd's body. He's dead, Savannah."

She took a quick breath, more surprised than she probably should have been. But as long as Todd was missing, there had been hope. Now there was none. "I'm so sorry. Where are you?"

"I'm still at my parents' house."

"Good. You should stay there for the rest of the week."

"What about Todd's funeral? He has no family besides his mother, and Chief Tanner said that she didn't understand anything that he said or that the staff at the hospital tried to tell her. Someone has to put something together for Todd. He didn't have any really close friends in Dobbs besides Paul and me. I guess there's the rest of his team, but it seemed like it was just Paul and Todd who were staying in touch."

"You need to take a breath, Abby. Nothing has to be done tonight."

"That's what the chief said. He also said he'd help make any arrangements."

"Good. I'm sure there will be an autopsy, which will take a day or two. And I will help you with all this, but just give yourself some time. As you said, Todd didn't have family. There's no rush to do a service."

"I don't even know what he would want."

"We'll figure it out. Maybe Ryker has an idea. He knew Todd very well at one point."

"Are you guys still at my house? I can't believe you didn't hear about Todd."

"We're not in Dobbs. We came to Atlanta to talk to Todd's employer."

"What did you find out?"

"Not a lot, but we did meet a woman who was in love with Todd. She might want to be part of a memorial service."

"Really? Todd had someone in Atlanta? He never told me that."

"I'm not sure if it was serious on his part, but this woman really cared about him."

"What else did she say?"

"That Todd had money troubles and was gambling."

"With Paul," Abby said. "And they weren't winning, I know that. When are you coming back?"

"I'm not sure. Tomorrow or the next day."

"What aren't you telling me, Savannah? Why stay in Atlanta?" Abby asked suspiciously. "Todd has been found. There's nothing else to know, is there?"

"I just want to make certain there's nothing else to know."

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